BEAR VS SHARK
Right Now You'e In The Best Of Hands (Featuring 2 unreleased songs!)

LP $25 available in Blue/Amber and Gold vinyl

BEAR VS SHARK
Terrorhawk 12 Inch LP

LP $17 Available in Red/White and Orange vinyl

BEARVSSHARK Right Now You're In The Best of Hands. And If Something Isn't Quite Right Your Doctor Will Know In A Hurry. 12 inch LP featuring 2 unreleased tracks that were recorded at the same time as the rest of the record. Second Pressing of 500 (Out Now) 250 Ultra Clear 250 White/Purple Swirl First Pressing of 1000 (Sold Out) Four color variations: 250 half and half light blue/light yellow 250 half and half green/clear 250 half and half brown/white 250 one side white/black swirl

Ari Ari

Ari Ari
ARI ARI & MAN AT ARMS Split Lathe Cut 12 inch record

LP $17.00

Ari Ari
There's A New Sheriff In Town

Artist Info

ari.ari. must be stopped! This spazzy, indie four-piece from Muncie, Ind., has conquered the Midwest and has plans for the major cities on both coasts and everywhere in between. ari.ari. (ryan-guitar, brandon-drums, mark-synth, jill-vocals) takes every stage it plays and makes it their own. On top of the speakers, on top of each other, in the crowd on the floorŠthe best 12 to 18 minutes of your life. This debut EP, recorded in a 12-hour session in a living room, was intended as a demo, but Friction and ari.ari. decided the raw, one-take session was a good representation of what they do live. The band rips through the five songs on "There¹s a New Sheriff in Town," without letting up or staying in any one place for too-long: spaced-out post-indie-shred guitars colliding with fat-bottom synth-lines, acrobatic drumming and power-saw female vocals. After spending three months on the road annihilating everything in their path, getting compared to the awesome destructive power of voltron and making believers out of the most jaded of skeptics, the band is currently writing material for a much anticipated and feared full-length album.

BARS OF GOLD

BARS OF GOLD
Of Gold

CD $12.00

LP LP w/ mp3 code $20.00

Featuring former Bear Vs Shark front man Marc Paffi, as well as original BvS drummer Brandon Moss and members of instrumental noise outfit Wildcatting, Bars Of Gold¹s overall sound doesn¹t fall far from its punk roots. Still, the Michigan five piece manages to branch out into wonderfully uncharted territories, embracing elements of pulsing soul, dirty garage rock and dusty americana.

Regarding a recent Bars Of Gold performance, Detroit¹s Metro Times proclaimed, If Fugazi had David Yow as a front man, but played like they lived off a steady diet of funk and MC5 records they¹d sound a lot like this. Wow.

That¹s not a statement to be taken lightly, but then again, neither is Of Gold, which is all at once explosive, contemplative, unpredictable, smooth-yet-caustic and, perhaps just as importantly, downright fun. Limited to a pressing of 500 on clear orange and clear green vinyl, this brilliant LP features artwork by Paffi and will come with a free download code for all the songs. Pre-orders are scheduled to start at the beginning of August. More details forthcoming, but for now you can grab the album¹s first single, The Hustle, from iTunes

CHARLES THE OSPREY

CHARLES THE OSPREY
Consider LP

LP LP $15.00

CLEAR DAYS ALWAYS

CLEAR DAYS ALWAYS
Ten Fingers: Five Yours, Five Mine/Habits Like Self-Love

CD $10.00

Clear Days Always is the music of Levi Bailey, a big fat nobody from Grand Rapids, Mich. His other band, Spit For Athena, is known for its short, brutal pop songs as played by a couple of hardcore kids and a former dance-instructor. Clear Days Always is Bailey¹s obscene, ego-driven solo project. The music on his Friction Records release, "Ten Fingers: Five Yours, Five Mine and Habits Like Self Love," was recorded in bedrooms and barns across Michigan. On this record, he trimmed down countless hours of four-track cluster-fucks to something just short of 80 minutes of his most accessible material. Most of this record is just Levi and his guitar, plus a few surprises. Those willing to wade through it all will discover some of the prettiest, most profane, hilarious and real music made today. Underneath the songs about suicide, murder, incest and general insensitivity and apathy, there are desperate cries for help and the undivided attention of Bailey¹s audience, He also begs for approval and honestly seems to want to make something beautiful in a world he has decided is quickly coming to an end.

CORCOVADO

CORCOVADO
The Lake Effect: A Four Way Split CD

CD $8.00

DON KNOTTS

DON KNOTTS
Black Day For Mayberry (7 inch on orange vinyl)

LP $4.00

Twelve songs of super spastic thrashcore from Michigan, the tempo alternates between
total blur and slow heavy grind parts. Throat grating vocals take charge on songs like
"Surrogate Test Tube Baboon Hearted Baby Trapped In Well"and "If You Didn't Have A
Boyfriend I'd Take You To Long John Silvers".
-MRR

HALOS FOR MARTYRS

HALOS FOR MARTYRS
A Rush Of Sound and the Silence That Follows

CD $5.00

HALOS FOR MARTYRS
HALOS FOR MARTYRS/THE GREEN RIBBON Split 7 inch

CD $4.00

Halos was a great band from grand rapids,
they broke up a while ago. Ben is now in BUNKBED NIGHTS.
Tim has a new, yet-to-be-named band with Joe and Joel from
SWIMMING TO PINPOINTS and Rebecca from CORCOVADO.
I can't wait to here them!

HEADS WILL ROLL
Heads Will Roll / Rome For a Day

LP $8.00

HEADS WILL ROLL
SPECIAL OFFER: Order both Friction HEADS WILL ROLL releases for cheap. HEADS WILL ROLL ep + 10 inch

LP Only $12.00

Somewhere between the egoism of overt technical prowess and the raw and ragged catharsis of a basement punk show, there's a seldom-achieved balance that is formed only by that elusive thing called chemistry. Few bands out there exhibit this better than Detroit's HeadsWillRoll. HWR has spent the last four years dazing audiences and wiping out any contestants for the most raging underground band in their hometown. They have the unique ability to fuse punk, hardcore, jazz fusion, metal, cock rock, and pop into an aggressive, yet compelling package. HWR is progressive in the truest sense of the word, moving beyond the well of influence that the new-millennium psuedo-punk generation was disingenuously built on and offering us a whole new modern chaos.
Singer/Guitarist Jeff Zlatich spent his youth fronting Capture the Flag, one of the Detroit area's only worthwhile punk outfits of the late 90s and one of the first to fuse metal-riffs with the classic bay area punk sound. With the band having signed to Go Kart Records and receiving rave reviews in Alternative Press and the like, their genre on the verge becoming one of the largest youth markets in the industry, Zlatich unceremoniously drifted from the band in order to pursue the newly developing HeadsWillRoll vision. Joined by drummer/multi-instrumentalist Dave Graw and bassist/wise guy Derek Swanson, road-tested veterans of the 90's hardcore circuit and two of the most proficient musicians in the scene, HWR has been a machine from the start and quickly became a Detroit staple.
While their debut EP "Information as Terminal Disease," with its twisting rhythms and snarling production, established them as a top shelf band in Detroit, it was their album "Extrapolate the Meaning" that raised the creative and conceptual bar. A feat for any band, let alone one with a shoestring indie budget, "Extrapolate" is a daunting achievement. Sighting reference points is difficult, but the neurotic, maniacal fun of Mike Patton's post-Faith No More output comes to mind during the songs "Existence" and "Extrapolation," during which Zlatich unleashes guitar noise that hybrids Eddie Van Halen scale-runs with avant-garde noise. Slowburning songs like "Extrapolation" and "Cogito" bring to mind a more lively version of Tool's existential sludge, while on the opener "Questions" they achieve something like Hum's wall-of-sound with a single effects-laden guitar track. Considered a concept record, "Extrapolate" was critically acclaimed and landed the band an opening slot for Relapse Records' all-stars The Dillinger Escape Plan.
A series of vinyl-only EPs were released in the wake of the album's success and a CD/DVD reissue of their debut EP including a live performance opening for their friends The Suicide Machines is in the works. HeadsWillRoll remain one of Detroit's most revered unsigned acts and, having the good fortune of a seemingly limitless potential, they'll undoubtedly fuck up any expectations next time around.
Has Played With: High On Fire, Dillinger Escape Plan, Zombie, Cutthroats 9, The Suicide Machines, Cky, The Kinison, Darkest Hour, Hopesfall, Planes Mistaken For Stars, From Autumn To Ashes, The Break, Bear Vs. Shark, Murder By Death, Battles, The Holy Fire, Atreyu, The Hold Steady, Death From Above 1979, Every Time I Die, Wolf Eyes, Uncut, Norma Jean, Reel Big Fish, The Vans Warped Tour, Explosions In The Sky, Buried Inside, Coliseum, Hey Mercedes, Kylesa, Christiansen, Stretch Armstrong, 400 Blows, Uncut, The Thermals and The Ramones.

HEAVIER THAN AIR FLYING MACHINES

HEAVIER THAN AIR FLYING MACHINES
Novikov (fric-054)

CD CD $12.00

HEAVIER THAN AIR FLYING MACHINES
Siam

CD CD $12.00

HORNET

HORNET
Insectuous

CD $12.00

Not only do the four veteran players in Hornet (formerly of Trocar and First To The Fence) display a lifelong understanding of the sonic vocabulary of early 90s D.C. punk on this nine-song debut, they also infuse it with a DIY fervor worthy of their largest influence. Vocalist/guitarist Chafe Hensley has a clipped vocal pattern thats as distinct as it is direct and guitarist Mark Larmee (of Broadside Productions) sears a needles touch across both his guitarwork and tracking of the songs, capturing frenzy without losing finesse. Released through Grand Rapids own Friction Records, Insectuous should generate a buzz across the rest of West Michigan and elsewhere as Hornets cage-rattling sound has remained contained within the Zoo for too long. -Recoil Magazine

IF HE DIES HE DIES

IF HE DIES HE DIES
Conquistador CD

CD $12.50

IF HE DIES HE DIES
Self Titled ep

CD $7.00

"If he dies, he dies" - a poker-faced line-reading courtesy of Dolph Lundgren inspires a batch of men from Muskegon, Mich., to match riff and rhythm with truthful exhortation. In 2003, bassist Ephraim and drummer Daine, working-class brothers in both blood and rhythm, found like-minded musical partners in guitarist Harley and guitarist/vocalist Brent, and what spilled forth was a collective appreciation for hard-nosed intensity and music-as-release philosophy: IfHeDiesHeDies. Such is a band that commits itself to truth instead of trend, that approaches music-making as an instinctive need instead of exhibitionist self-indulgence. Songs became explorations of right-brained passion and left-brained solidarity, genre-be-damned dynamics merged with metallic fists of fury. Live shows represented their ferocity, becoming transformative, tooth-chipping blood runs, wholesale liquidations of negative energy bordering on purification ritual. In early 2005, a two-day studio session resulted in IfHeDiesHeDies' six-song recorded debut, a self-titled EP properly exhibiting the group's singular synthesis of lyrical upheavals channeled through the machinery of disarming melodies, chug-and-slash riffs and layered, but never unwieldy, arrangements. Freshly recorded material further fueled the band's desire to play live, building its fan base in dive clubs, dusty cornfields or dingy basements. Consistently averaging 8-10 shows a month, the strength of the group's performances have resulted in gigs with The Black Dahlia Murder, Mastodon, Symphony in Peril, Bear vs. Shark and The End, as well as a series of Midwestern tour dates supporting Eyehategod. Peer underneath the aggressive heavy metal hyperbole, and what becomes obvious is IfHeDiesHeDies' dedication to its musical mission, its roots in grit-under-the-fingernails hard work - and, of course, the cold calculation of a fictitious Russian pugilist. IfHeDiesHeDies: Not just another band about dying, bleeding and crying, but rather, living as if each day were its last.

IVAN

IVAN
Nightmares

CD $7.00

What seems to have obviously become a redundant metal scene may now have a new savior, IVAN. This Grand Rapids Michigan export isnt your typical run-of-the-mill metal act by any means and thank god for that. Blending an incredible concoction of styles like a musical processor IVAN is dead set on making a difference in our over saturated metal scene by simply having no pre-set boundaries. Easier said then done but somehow this group of newbies has accomplished just that; making something new and fresh is an understatement. Sure you may hear some obvious influences but you will also lay witness to a group of talented musicians that has no concerns about following trends set by the newest upsurges of youth angst. Mixing such eclectic influences as Latin guitar progressions with other such diverse ingredients as Jazz and Metal as their obvious back bone IVAN are such a fresh sound that may be a hard swallow at first.

Man at Arms
The Foreseeable Future

Man at Arms
ARI ARI & MAN AT ARMS

LP $17.00

Man at Arms
Being And Commerce

CD $7.00

Man at Arms
The Lake Effect: A Four Way Split CD

CD $8.00

Man at Arms is a noisy rock band from the Midwest. Its members are Eric and Ted who, respectively, play guitar and drums. Both of them sing. The guitars are biting, the drumming is precise and brutal, the commentary, frustrated and scathing. Starting in Grand Rapids, Mich., in the spring of 2002 as a three-piece, the band has been playing shows around its native state and the Midwest. In January of 2005, Man at Arms parted ways with founding member and bassist, Jason, and continued to play shows and write and record songs as a two-piece. The resulting product is the band's most recent release, the Being and Commerce E.P., a collection of sharp, concise songs about things its members have read in books, listened to on the radio, and overheard in conversations. Its distorted, yet dynamic music is quirky without being weird and catchy without conventional pop hooks, drawing comparisons to the Minutemen, Shellac, Fugazi and McLusky.

MAPS AND ATLASES

MAPS AND ATLASES
Tree, Swallows, Houses 12 inch LP

LP $13.25 LP

MERCURY RADIO THEATER

MERCURY RADIO THEATER
The Blue Eyed Model

CD $10.00

The story of Gregor, a young collegiate with a penchant for making his own coed out of the leftovers of his blind dates. The album features expeditious punk/instrumental songs that illuminate the narrative. The album is a continuation of Mercury Radio Theater¹s ³The Death and Life of the Undead Boy² which they released in 2003, to both critical and fanatical praise. The Blue Eyed Model features 19 tracks of blazing punk/instro compositions, 24 pages of original artwork by underground artist Becky Havens, and a remarkable narrative performance by cult legend Otto Bot (Vocalist for Blaster The Rocketman).
In a smoke filled rock club in old city Philadelphia, there's a crowd
of kids mulling around waiting for the next band to start. A night
filled with bands that sound just like all the others on the radio,
the crowd is bored and waiting for the headliner. Until, that is, a
booming echoing presence over the sound system tells them to pay
attention. When Mercury Radio Theater takes the stage there are solid
math rock beats accentuated by running bass lines that interplay with
melodic guitars. Altogether excluding things like scratchy throaty
singers and mundane rhythm guitars is what makes Mercury Radio Theater
different. As the show proceeds the crowd finds that there is not just
exciting instrumental music to listen to, but also a story narrated by
a creepy disembodied voice and pictures projected onto a screen
provide the visuals for the terrifying tales.
"The Blue Eyed Model" chronicles the story of Gregor, a
young collegiate with a penchant for making his own coed out of the
leftovers of his blind dates. The album features expeditious
punk/instrumental songs that illuminate the narrative. The album is a
continuation of Mercury Radio Theater's "The Death and Life of the
Undead Boy" which they released in 2003, to both critical and
fanatical praise.

Paucity
Deer Bird Bear Ship

CD CD $12.00

LP LP w/ mp3 code $15.00

RUSSIAN CIRCLES

RUSSIAN CIRCLES
Enter

CD SOLD OUT

SHUTTLECOCK

SHUTTLECOCK
Existing Bridges

CD $6.00

Recorded by Bob Weston
Mastered by John Golden
4 new songs lasting 16:52
Two guys making alot of noise with
every available extremity. An
amelgem of mysterious whirring
gears, miraculous subtle and tiny
intricacies, fused with a vortex of
efficient and unstoppable guitars,
precision drums and nonsensical
rantings about flying machines, stars
and three-dimensional models, of only
god knows what.

SPIT FOR ATHENA

SPIT FOR ATHENA
Piss Is Perfect

CD $10.00

SPIT FOR ATHENA
Self Titled

CD $10.00

SPIT FOR ATHENA
The Lake Effect: A Four Way Split CD

CD $8.00

Much has been said about the genius of Spit For Athena¹s hardcore disguised as pop in their native Michigan since they started four years ago, and, love it or hate it, this record validates every word of it. The follow up to 2004¹s "Extermina" on Eyeball Records, "Piss is Perfect" is Spit For Athena¹s third full-length CD and a long-anticipated masterpiece that documents the band at its most quintessential. The first half of the disk, titled "Mergers," features 13 brand-new, two-minute, verse/chorus bursts by singer and guitarist Levi Bailey, bassist Melanie Cumming, and drummer Matt Budd. The tracks sizzle and scrape with giant hooks, deadly riffs and pounding rhythms amounting to what is easily the band¹s catchiest, if not darkest, material yet. Singer/songwriter Levi Bailey¹s stream-of-criticism seems more pointed and amusing than ever and his biggest target is himself ­ forcing the listener to look at his or her own perversions, ugly laziness and apathy. The second half of the album, "Acquisitions," features 10 more songs, including re-recorded versions of some of the bands best older songs and the original recordings for "Extermina", which some say sound better than the actual record.
(It is basically two separate albums on one CD, which is one of Bailey¹s trademarks. His solo album (Clear Days Always) and the first Spit For Athena album were set up the same way.)

STYLEX

STYLEX
Wonder Program

CD $8.00

STYLEX
False Start

CD $6.00

Sincerely melding the world of rock and roll and electronic music with their creative use of keyboards, vocal processing, and time-tested formulas for constructing catchy rock songs (as well as strategically placed hand-claps!)

TANOOKI SUIT

TANOOKI SUIT
VICTOR! FIX THE SUN/TANOOKI SUIT We Split CD

CD Unavailable

This is what happens when kids grow up on really good music. When they are raised on Don Caballero instead of Korn. Where does this happen, you might ask? In Traverse City, Michigan of all places. These two bands, comprised of friends since high school who share an excitement for creating original, important music, split this disk with three songs each and one collaboration, effectively combining their two distinct styles to create an appropriate, disk-ending supersong. Victor! Fix the Sun plays hard-edged, angular post-rock filled with big riffs, solid grooves and passionate, screamy vocals in the vain of Q and Not U and These Arms Are Snakes. Tanooki Suit plays what they dub "emergency rock" - which sounds something like a futuristic King Crimson on a Nintendo bender. The five-piece¹s fast-paced, intricately arranged songs keep you guessing at what¹s coming next and still find time to develop into melodic, echoing vocal anthems. The music¹s display of progressive rock chops with indie sensibility makes for some the most original sounds being played today. And they recorded these songs as seniors in high school!

THE NAIN ROUGE

THE NAIN ROUGE
Antebellum

CD $12.00

THE NAIN ROUGE
V/A 3-Way Split

CD $10.00

The Nain Rouge borrow their name from Detroit's 200 year old urban legend of the Red Dwarf. It seems that sightings of the dark red, furry imp preceded terrific disasters like massive fires, bloody battles, fatal car crashes, and ice/snow storms. Though it may seem as though their name is simply a reference to the band's stomping grounds, its appropriateness delves a little deeper. It seems that the band has turned over vocal duties to the Red Dwarf himself. The Nain Rouge's sound is unrelenting, with their groovy, ballistic metal riffing and freight train rhythms. The siren drilling of high-end guitar work and closed-fisted chugging are reminiscent of something on Relapse Records.